Climbing in Red Rocks after heavy rain can permanently damage the rock! MORE INFO >>>

The sandstone in Red Rocks is fragile and is very easily damaged when it is wet. Holds rip off and climbs have been and will continue to be permanently damaged due to climbers not respecting this phenomenon. After a heavy storm the rock will remain wet, sometimes for several days. PLEASE DO NOT CLIMB IN RED ROCKS during or after rain. A good rule of thumb is that if the ground near your climb is at all damp (and not powdery dry sand), then do not climb. There are many alternatives (limestone, granite, basalt, and plastic) nearby.

This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund,
and Mountain Project.You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates.

Get guppified!

Intended to be done in 1 nice, long pitch w/ 2 distinctly different cruxes, apprx. 120'. Bolted by a trad climber in order to help people learn to lead long pitches, be sure to extend a few slings in the middle of the climb to avoid rope drag.

With a nice ledge midway it could easily be done in two: this mid-way anchor is a good opportunity to practice an entry-level, multi-pitch leader swap before heading into the canyons. The route has really cleaned up this year and is of excellent rock quality. 70 meter rope BARELY gets to the ground, tie a knot before lowering or do two rappels with a 60 m(good practice for a burgeoning climbing team;).

Roadside chocolatey goodness

the route begins at an arete with a black hangar on chocolate rock apprx. 30 ft. climber's right from cocopuss.

we struggled with the grade, all involved felt it was a 5.7/+. i'm against sandbagging a beginner climb so we said 5.8-. this would be a fine 1st lead at that grade.

go jump on some herbst, van betten, harrison, or smith routes before you coin the phrase "red rock 5.9"! (1st pitch of the friar is infinitely more difficult than adventure guppies and it is ranked a 5.7... birdland is harder too at 5.7+. these are the only other 5.7's i've done in the park)

this route is definitely harder than 5.7- I'd be inclined to rate it 5.9, if only to keep 5.8 climbers from decking before they can clip the high second bolt. (and I've climbed plenty of all three grades in Red Rock...including the Friar, the 1st pitch of which is easier than this thing.)

I think the first pitch is worthwhile if you're in the area- its a decent warmup to the two .10s nearby. The upper pitch is probably not worth doing- the rock is very poor and the rope stretch would mean that a ledgefall is possible even two bolts into it if you're belaying from the ground.

A single 70m was totally fine- had about 10' left over after lowering.

ha! just goes to show how subjective rock climbing can be... i thought it was over-bolted (purposely) and very safe. also felt it isn't worth the time to rope up unless you do the whole pitch, the best warm-up is in the final bulges.

i maintain! she's a good beginner climb! LOL...

seriously tho, thanks for the feedback, i'll keep in mind on future installations...

Enjoyable climb. And way harder than 5.7. I thought the cruxes on both pitches were a bit thin for 5.8 and more like 5.9, but it may depend on where you climb. At the first bulge on pitch 2, I climbed on holds just left of the bolt and thought it was 5.9, but other friends climbed to the right and thought it was 5.8.

Ok, i have been in town climbing Red Rock for 6 months. I am trying to go from gym climber to sport climber to trad climber to good overall climber. "Adventure guppies" was suggested to me along this vein so I went up there this weekend with 3 friends that are all in the same situation as I am:

1st: thanks to the FA team! SO many bolts!!! we were all so greatful to have this chance to learn to work together better, we love the route and , it was SO long! SO cool to be up there in one pitch! we had to rappel twice with our 60 meter and we learned a LOT from that! thanks for a cozy ledge rappel!!

2nd: who said there is poor rock on this climb? we have climbed a lot in the loop at the pullouts and THIS cliff has the best bolted rock we've seen! it is that dark, desert varnish and we could not find a SINGLE friable rock on this climb and the bolts were so close together that we could "z clip" in several places: "PG-13" is not valid. furthermore, the last 60 ft. of the climb were AWESOME!!!! ( WE almost didn't do the 2nd pitch because of the comment and, now, we can't imagine he's ever even climbed the route! SO glad we did the entire route!) listen to the majority that say this is a great climb and ignore the one guy that must have been in a bad mood the day he climbed it...

Jim and friends

p.s. WE stayed right at the crux and found great crimps. I was able to onsight the climb and i never got a 5.9 without taking or falling. who knows what that means though! We think that the route being so long is why people may think it is harder than 5.8.